Hana Kimi @ Hanazakari no Kimitachi e

I still recall those days when I would rush back from work to catch the popular Taiwanese drama series Hana Kimi (花樣少年少女). It's addictive in some ways. In addition, the main character in the series is a pretty boy! How could I miss that?

When the series came to an end, I was kind of sad. It was entertaining and that's just what I needed after a long day at work. My friend then told me the Japanese version was worth watching as well. An inquisitive person I am, how could I not find out? So, I went to crunchyroll to ascertain her remark. Well, you might have guessed it, I was addicted to it too!! The Japanese version is even funnier than the Taiwanese.

The Japanese version did a good job in illustrating the life of high school students in Osaka Gakuen, so much so that I wanted to study there too =p There are more activities, sports events and fun activities chipped into the scenes from time to time as compared to the Taiwanese version.

In general, the story line in both versions are similar but there are some details which draw them apart. For example:

1. How Sano finds out Mizuki is a girl
2. The reason why Mizuki wants to enroll into Osaka Gakuen
3. How Nakatsu finds out Mizuki is a girl
4. The character Julia (Mizuki's best friend) only appears in the Taiwanese version
5. Taiki has more focus in the Japanese version

Personally, I felt there's more character development for each characters in the Japanese version. Each shares equal lime light. The Japanese are pretty good in stirring emotions as well as warmth in movies and/or dramas. This is is no exception. It has a good mixture of comedy, romance, friendship and philosophy.

I like the scene which Mizuki and Nakatsu danced (Japanese version) and the scenes which the students were at Nanba's sister vacation home during summer holidays. Apart from Nakatsu, I am drawn to the character Masao a.k.a Oscar. LOL. I believe credits should be given to him for injecting comedy element into the scenes. He's done a great job. I couldn't help laughing whenever I saw his appearance. All in all I would rate 9.5 (there's no perfect score hehe) out of 10 for the Japanese version and 8.5 out of 10 for the Taiwanese version. I am actually looking forward to the sequel of the latter as I am curious of the development from the prequel, though usually sequels are not as good as the prequel. We'll see then.

There are some NG scenes, MTVs and interviews uploaded at crunchyroll. Enjoy!

Japanese : Nanba sen-pei, Mizuki, Sano, Nakatsu

Taiwanese : Quan, Rui Xi, Shou Yi

picture source: genievenoxpics and crunchyroll

Prada? Gucci? Guess? or Brandless?

My colleague and I was just talking about women who shop for only branded stuffs (no offence if you happen to be one of them. Just that we are total opposite =p). We both never know how much does a original Guess bag nor a Prada bag cost. We only know they are expensive. Period. So, even if there're sales on all these branded things, we still do not know how cheap is cheap :/ Pathetic?

For me, as long as the thing look good, comfortable on me (clothings and shoes), and most importantly, reasonably priced, I have no problem in purchasing them eventhough it's brandless. That being said, I am particular about electronic and electrical devices. They must at least be a recognised brand. It's all right if it's not the most expensive in the market.

Well, perhaps I could not afford the price of branded things, that's why I am completely turned off. Had I been rich and had no idea where to spend the excess $$, the situation could have been completely different. Who knows? People do change with time and power. In this case, it would be purchasing power. Anyway, I would rather spend on travelling and good food. Gee, maybe I will be a short fatty if I turned rich! LOL. Hope not.

Pss...This purse looks good eh? I like purses in rectangular shape but the price is a complete let down :/

Zero Degrees

I was looking through the magazine Zero Degrees, which I had won from the MixFM crews mentioned in my previous blog. Perhaps I am not a frequent magazine buyer, I didn't know the existence of this magazine until last week.

Anyway, back to the magazine. What I like about the magazine is that though it has a fair share of advertisements, it contains a generous number of reviews and articles about travel, food, books, art & culture. Unlike many other magazines, it's not overwhelmed with commercial advertisements and lack of information. I like magazines or reading materials that have juicy articles and the more information or knowledge based write-ups, the better. Nevertheless, preference is subject to each indivdual.

The quality of photographs are impressive and able to illustrate what were described in the articles. To those who are interested, it costs MYR12 per copy in West Malaysia and MYR14.50 in East Malaysia.

An advertisement in Zero Degrees caught my attention. A resort (Amari Vogue Resort) in Krabi is running a promotion. You would get the second night free if you stay for a night! The best part is breakfast is included on nights that are free and a guest can receive up to 5 nights of free stay. Not bad, huh? From the photo of the resort, it looks comfy. It's overlooking the sea. For more information or details, please visit http://www.amari.com/vague.

The Sexy Voice

Khalil Fong is no longer a household name. After his first album Soul Boy (year 2005) and then later, This Love ( a.k.a 愛 愛 愛) in 2006, he had attracted a lot of attention from the media and made presence in numerous award ceremonies as well as concerts.

He seems to have the ability to work magic in rendering R&B and soul songs with his slightly husky voice. It somehow reminded me of Alex Too. Both have the sexy voice and the mysterious spell to make you tap your fingers to the tempo of their musics. Khalil gave me the impression he's bold, confident, eccentric, and carries a bad boy image due to the photos portrayed in his album covers. However, I was taken aback to find that he looks very different from the images formed in my mind, when I saw him appearing in a concert which he performed, he looked very decent and looked like the boy next door.

Borned in Hawaii and raised in China as well as in Hong Kong, he is gifted with the talent to compose songs apart from singing. I also heard that he's a great dancer. See the video below and make the judgement yourself ;-)

I like the song Spring Breeze (春風吹) and that's the first song I heard from him. Injected with at stint of romance, it's a catchy song that you simply would not want to miss. In his latest album, Wonderland, he had sang a remix version of this song featuring Silver. The tempo is slower and gives a totally different feel. Try to look out for it. Personally, I prefer the original version.

Other songs which have made their way to my ears and heart are Love Love Love, Sorry, Enough (够不够 - great song for dancing), 爱在 (when literally translated to English, it's Love At) and Love Song. Have yet to listen to all his songs but I suppose they are pretty much my cup of tea as I love R&B, ballads, jazz and soul songs. Oh yeah, do you notice most of his songs revolve around the word or theme "Love"? A mere coincidence? *Shrug*

picture source from batgwa

Baskin Robbins Treat!

Ah,.....good to be back. Have not been posting entries for days. Was pretty caught up with work these few days. Phew. A busy week. I couldn't wake up this morning :/ My head felt heavy. Luckily I was not late for work. Was early, in fact. Unbelievable. LOL

My colleague sent out an email with a PDF file today and the subject was Baskin Robbins. Curious, I opened the attachment and found it's a voucher! To the fans of Baskin Robbins, please download it here. The voucher is acceptable if printed with colour or black & white. Good news, eh? So, what are you waiting for? ;-) *Yum Yum*

History of Valentine's Day

I have no idea what to blog about today and I just came across an article about "Festival of Love" a.k.a Valentine's Day.

For all these years, I merely knew 14th February is the day when everyone gets lovey dovey. It's known as the Valentine's Day. Most people perceive it as the day for couples. My lecturer once said that it's also a day to show someone you care about how much they mean to you. Well, they can be your parents, your friends or simply someone dear to you.

Has anyone wonder how did Valentine's Day come about? Anyway, you can read it from here. Touching isn't it? I suppose you would see Valentine's Day a little differently after reading about its origin.

I recalled gathering from a radio programme that the country which celebrated Valentine's Day the most is Korea. Unbelievable, huh? They practically celebrate Valentine's Day on the monthly - on the 14th or sometimes 11th. Each month is celebrated with different significance. I could not remember what are they but pretty interesting huh?

The Koreans also has a celebration known as the Black Day. It sounded a little sober. Anyway, the Black Day is for singles to get together and eat noodle with black bean sauce. It's somewhat a consolation to those who didn't receive gifts and those who did not have someone to celebrate Valentine's Day with.

White Day is the opposite of Black Day. It's first celebrated in Japan in the year 1978. It's said to be the day when the men answer to the ladies' confession of love by showering the latter with (more expensive) gifts. Chocolates are often the common gifts. Traditionally, preferred gifts were white chocolates, stuffed toys, lingerie, jeweleries candies and cookies. 14th March (White Day) is declared as a holiday in some countries - namely, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.

A Busy Saturday

My friend and I had planned to go to an island dubbed Pulau Besar during the upcoming Merdeka (Independence Day) holiday. It's said to be located near the renown Pulau Perhentian.

We decided to take a bus to Mersing, Johor and then board a ferry to the island. So, my friend said she would like to check out the bus services to Mersing at Pudu. My sis and I joint her.

It's such a coincidence that we bumped into a friend at KL. She was studying part time at Kasturi. How hardworking. I have thought of getting another certification to add value to my working experience in the job market. In the midst of saving up money and hope I could start off my plan soon.

We headed to Sunway Pyramid later as my friend's mom was waiting to reunite with her there. Upon arrival at the entrance of the new wing (near Häagen-Dazs), we saw there's a small crowd and we heard some cheers as well as laughter. The MixFM roadrunner crews were there to give away prizes and vouchers. There were 3 of them and I had no idea who were they as it's been ages since I listened to that radio station.

My friend was pretty excited and decided to grab some prizes or vouchers. So we tagged along. Each of us was given a latest product by Gardenia. It looked similar to Twiggies (it does not contain cream, though) and it tasted like banana cake.

The three of us managed to win ourselves a magazine by Zero, a newly launched UV protection product by Lancome and fragrance by Bubberry (The Beat). My friend had additionally won herself a magazine by "Brides". The roadrunner crews were quite nice and generous in giving away prizes. There were times that the crowd did not know the answers to the questions and the crews threw us easier questions so to delight us. I suppose I would give it another try if I spotted any roadrunner crews nearby as there are so many freebies to give away ;-)

I bought myself a 3 quarter pants from Yishion for MYR29. The price is rather reasonable after discount is applied. Sales is all over right now. So, it's the best time to shop! Later, I also bought myself a new mobile phone. Mine had conked out a few days ago. For the first time, I got myself a camera phone (Yeah, I do sound a little low-tech and outdated =p) with an FM radio and Bluetooth connectivity. It's a 2600 classic series. I opted for the cover in light gold.

After that, my family and I went to a Japanese restaurant opposite SJMC (or Sheraton hotel, Subang Jaya) for dinner. We ordered Curry Udon, Rice set with Grilled Salmon and a Rice plus Udon set (actually, I can't recall the name. It's too long. The set meal actually consists of both rice and udon). Pictures (on food) are in the order mentioned above.

The food look delicious but I would rate them 6 out of 10. I personally felt that Zen is more worthwhile to dine in. Shun's ambience is good and the waitresses are warm but the food are just slightly above average. *Shrug* Well, probably, it's just me only. Each person has different likings.

Findings about Bangkok

Throughout my stay at Bangkok, the following are my findings and observations about Bangkok.

1. The weather at Bangkok is extremely hot - well, Thailand is one of the countries with tropical climate: hot and humid throughout the year. But, I can't help to feel that Bangkok is hotter than in Malaysia.
2. People there are extremely warm and friendly. They treat guests very nicely. Honestly, I felt a little awkward at first.
3. Ladies in Bangkok are slim and pretty. (Mmm...most of them)
4. The food portion is rather small and some food tastes a little sweeter.
5. There are a lot of stalls selling drinks, grilled and fried food by the road side.
6. The traffic at Bangkok is rather bad when relatively compared with Malaysia.
7. Some Thais look a lot like Chinese. They are fairer compared to others. Probably, they are the Thai Chinese.
8. Thai guys and girls are extremely good looking!
9. Majority of Thai ladies (in Bangkok) apply make up and wear high heels when going to work.
10. I like the way the Thais speak (in terms of intonation and pronunciation). Sounds polite and gentle. Even guys speak gently!
11. There are many similarities between Malaysia and Thailand. Most things in Bangkok can be found in Malaysia.
12. The train service is Bangkok is as efficient as Singapore's. You don't have to worry if you have missed the train. The next train arrives about 5 minutes after the previous one.
13. You could see a lot of people wearing yellow on Mondays. I was told that Monday is the King's birthday.
14. The departmental stores and shopping malls close pretty early - about 9pm local (Bangkok) time. **Bangkok is an hour behind Malaysia.
15. You would be surprised that the price of an item in night markets can be slashed up to 70-75% after bargaining! (Hint: a necklace can be purchased at 60 Baht instead of the usual 240 Baht quoted)

I hope to go to other interesting places in Thailand such as Pattaya, Krabi, Samui, etc. In fact, I hadn't been to tourists attractions other than night markets (Si Lom and Suan Lum) due to time constraint.

Dinner at Baan Khanitha, Sathorn, Bangkok

It's a must to try the local cuisines of the places you visit as each country would have its specialties and unique cultures, which influences the food culture of the natives. Thailand is known for its spicy food. Though I am not very good with spicy foods, I agreed to test out the local cuisine in Bangkok.

On our first night, we went to a Thai Restaurant near our hotel. It's located at Sathorn Road. The handsomely designed restaurant is known as Baan Khanitha. I had managed to take some photos of the restaurant with my mom's camera phone. However, some shots are not that good - pardon me ;-)

Front view of the restaurant

Another shot on the front view

View from the side window

Dining table

I can't really recall what exactly we had ordered but these are somewhat close to those that were in the menu : An appetizer which we ate by wrapping all the ingredients - including dried prawns, chillies, limes cut into tiny squarish cubes, peanuts, etc, with a small fragrant leave (I am not very sure what leave was that), Green Curry Chicken, Fried Soft Shell Crab, Fried Fish ala Thai style, Fried Vegetables, Beancurd, Tom Yam Soup, and Blueberry Ice-cream for dessert.

We wanted to have mangoes but they come with sticky rice and we didn't feel like taking coconut milk then. So, we just settled for ice-cream. It was indeed a scrumptious meal. The ambience and environment of the restaurant was very comfortable and I find it rather romantic. The bill came up to about 31700 Baht, which is equivalent to MYR317.

4 Nights in Ascott, Sathorn, Bangkok

In continuation to my previous post on my business trip to Bangkok, I have finally purchased a USB Bluetooth Adapter to transfer photos captured via a camera phone to my laptop =D

Here are the photos of the room/hotel I had stayed for 4 nights!

The kitchen

The kitchen

The kitchen

King size bed

Cozy living room

TV set

Bathroom

Mini dining table

Scenery from my room's window

Scenery from my room's window

She Boy?

While chatting with my friends today, our conversation stirred into non-straight guys (no offence). I have always believed that non-straight guys are wonderful friends. My friend affirmed my believe by sharing her story with us.

It's said that usually non-straight guys are very successful in their lives. For example, they are professionals such as doctors, surgeons, lawyers, accountants, etc and they look drop dead gorgeous! Ah, what a waste.

I like the idea of having someone who looks physically strong and yet gentle from within as a best friend. It would be fun to shop together, to go for facials together, to drool over hunks together, to share something emotional with one another and he just understand what exactly is on your mind.

Anyway, I have yet to find a friend with such special traits. Well, just hope that I shall not fall for him if I finally found one =p

Home Sweet Home

Ah,....I finally set foot into my house after 5 days and 4 nights away from home. Not that I didn't enjoy my training at Bangkok. Just that I somewhat miss home although the hotel I stayed during my trip in Bangkok was by far, the most luxurious hotel I had stayed in. It's more like a service apartment as the room consisted of a bathroom, a kitchen, a small living room and a king size bed, not to mention the kitchen was furnished with stoves, mircowave ovens, coffee maker, toaster, laddles, wok, pot, saucepan, detergents, utensils and washing machine!

The room was rather spacious for only one person. Well, a little lonely at times. I listened to Thai songs every night before sleeping and guess what? I felt in love with Thai songs! Gee, the guys and girls in the MTVs were so gorgeous and pretty! =p

I was lucky that I had a few colleagues with me on my first business trip out of Malaysia. Frankly, the last time I had boarded a plane was 13 years ago! So, I was pretty clueless what are the changes that have taken place.

Everyone would agree that Bangkok is a heaven for shopping queens (or perhaps kings), including myself. Anyway, I am not a shopaholic but a window-shopper. I enjoy looking through things and I could do that for a long time. In short, "see-and-touch-but-no-buy". LOL.

The things in my luggage are pretty much untouched though I reached home about 4 hours ago. I am lazy when comes to unpacking. Oh well, shall do that over the weekends. More coverage and pictures will follow. Firstly, need to transfer the photos from my mom's camera phone (yeah, need to borrow my mom's because my phone has no camera and my digital camera was not "behaving". Ah, need to get a data cable too. My laptop does not support Bluetooth conectivity) to laptop and to get more photos from my colleagues ;-)

Royale Cup Cakes, Anyone?

I stumbled upon this site while surfing. Like JCo and Big Apple donoughts, the cup cakes sold by Cupcake Royale are colourful and attractive. Well, it boils down to packaging ;-) Honestly, I would like to know if it tastes good. Alas, I don't think Cupcake Royale has a franchise here.

Gosh, each cupcake looks pretty HUGE and creamy. I am not very fond of creams and colourful food. The latter is probably due to my mom's upbringing. She's very particular about food colouring. When my sis and I were young, mom would never permit colourful snacks or sweet treats entering our mouths. Slowly, it became my peculiarity hehe. Like mother like daughter, huh?

So Chocolate Cake Triple Treat would be my prime choice.Mr Formal looks decent as well ;-)
picture source : http://www.cupcakeroyale.com/thecupcakes.html

My Doom Day!

I was packing last night for my Bangkok business trip which I would take off tomorrow. Being one of the most important things when travel, I took out my digital camera and the rechargeable batteries to recharge them. I started to recharge since last night and when I woke up this morning, the LED indicator showed the batteries were still being charged! It's been more than 12 hours from the time I started charging. Something is not right here.

Panicked, I removed the batteries from the charger and placed them into the camera before pushing the "On/Off" button. It didn't switched on! Either the batteries' life span had come to an end or it's my camera's =( I would rather the latter. It's easier and cheaper to be replaced. I have less than 24 hours to get a working camera for the trip.

I am waiting for my sis to come back so that I have the car to go to the shop which the camera was bought, to find out the truth. Arghh...why is this happening to me? And why now?

It's Friday!

The alarm clock was screaming "Grrrrrriiiiiinnnnnnnng". I dragged myself up to silent the alarm clock and dropped back onto my bed to catch a little more sleep. Well, only 10 minutes more but that was a good bargain!

I left early from the Karaoke session last night but I felt as sleepy as those who left later. It was an enjoying night. We do have lots of talents around. Singing from the range of ballads to hard rocks (for example, songs by Linkin Park - er...not a fan of this group though), everyone was so high! But I seriously think that the MTVs for most songs should be changed. Imagine having a sexy lady in bikini, rolling on the sandy beach (ahem, seductively) in the MTV for Linkin Park's song. Sounds weird, eh? Wonder what happened to the original MTVs which we could see on TV. Anyway, the MTVs did create some jokes among our colleagues. We were teasing the male colleagues and they reacted shyly. How cute!

Yesterday was my company's 80th Anniversary (Wow!) and was greeted by balloons when I entered into the reception before proceeding to my place. Everyone was busy decorating their places with balloons. We were each given a mug printed with company logo and we had ice-creams in the afternoon for celebration.

I am so glad that it's Friday! It's been a busy week. I haven't really packed yet for my Bangkok trip. Shall have more extensive packing tomorrow.

Wednesday Night

Just had my dinner not too long ago as I only arrived home about 9.10pm. So tired *yawns*. I was happy that my presentation was finally over. Phhhewww.

I will be going to Red Box with my colleagues tomorrow after work. Ah, second departmental outing to karaoke lounge. The last time we had was ages ago (I couldn't recall when was that. Probably my poor brain is overloaded or just that I don't want to admit I have gone older, hence the poor memory hehe =p)

My colleague broke the news he's getting married soon, joining the crowd of loving couples vowing to stand by each other till death do them part. How lovely. What touched me was that the bride-to-be actually created a website to commemorate how the couple met right through to the moment my colleague asked for the lady's hand. Very sweet and romantic indeed. A guestbook was also setup to receive best wishes from family and friends.

Right now, I am counting down to the day I am flying off to Bangkok. 4 days to go! How excited. Nah, it's not for vacation but for work. Anyhow, I am still happy and thrilled. My first time setting foot at Bangkok. Shall update more upon returning ;-) Stay tuned.

Okies,..time to zzzzz. My eyes could hardly stay opened.

Signing off.....

Reunion 28th June 2008

The call for a reunion had finally come. Although there were only the 4 of us, I still felt a sheer of excitement thinking of meeting up with old friends. Anyway, a day before the gathering, I found out that another former schoolmate would be joining us. I had not seen her for a very long time and was not that closed to her either.


Nevertheless, it turned out that she was very friendly and warm in greeting us when my sis and I arrived at Mid Valley after travelling by KTM for an hour (including changing to another train at KL Sentral). While we were heading to Little Vietname, the meet-up place, my friend messaged me to inform me that there were 5 other unexpected guests joining us for lunch. That made a total of 10 person from the initial number of 4! How happening and how unexpected.

I was taken aback to see a former classmate transformed into a pretty lass. She had lost quite a lot of weight too. Graduated from Computer Science, she worked with digital imaging. Ah, one of the toughest subjects I would say, speaking from experience. Perhaps, that explained her weight loss.


After having lunch, we chatted a while before paying the bill and heading to the exhibition hall. There was a promotion of a new drink by Yeo's - an isotonic green tea drink. Mmm...it wasn't very appealing to me. A miniature basket ball field was set up to attract passer-bys to stop at their booths. If you manage to score a goal, a notepad would be rewarded. Otherwise, a can of isotonic green tea would be rewarded. I got the latter. It's still in the refrigerator. Didn't dare to drink it =p


Next, we went to World of Feng Shui. It was on that day that I knew the shop was owned by Feng Shui master, Lilian Too. She doesn't look like a typical Chinese lady like what I had imagined. Uninterested, we left after having a short tour around the shop.


A friend then suggested to go for a "Yam Cha" session. Alas, another friend wanted to do some window shopping. So, we came to an agreement to split to 2 different groups but we would then see each other for "Yam Cha" later.


I followed my friend to MNG (a shopping heaven to most girls but I beg to be different. I am not into it at all). The boutique was crowded with lots of ladies, as usual. Knowing no chance of beating the crowd, my friend suggested to leave. We walked for another few minutes before heading to The Gardens. The latter was quieter and less crowded. Thereby, it's more cooling.


After confirming the location of the other group of friends, we met up with them at Gurney Drive. Yeah, we have a Gurney Drive in The Gardens. It's a far cry to the place in Penang. Here, it's more luxurious and "classy".





As I just had my lunch not too long ago, I decided to order a desert to quench thirst (had been doing a lot of talking). A chendol costs about MYR5.50! Mm...but the portion was pretty huge - enough for 3 person. It contained a lot of read beans (kidney shaped) and we felt it's too sweet. A big no-no for diabetics.

Our conversations ranged from jokes to serious topics like commitment (ahem, yeah marriage). I already have a few friends ringing the wedding bell while most of us just started working and some have barely graduated! I didn't take the news well (reason being we are still young. At least, I feel so.Ok, maybe I am a little slow) although I am truly happy for them because they have found that someone whom they can share the rest of their lives with.

I would probably receive more invitation cards (to wedding receptions/dinners) in the next reunion ;) Oh well, we'll see.

P/S: To those who'll be brides soon, I sincerely wish you "live happily ever after with your prince charming" (just like the fairy tales) and do keep in touch!

Dinner at Fong Lye, The Gardens

I came to know about Fong Lye (a Taiwanese Restaurant) at The Gardens from a TV show about food in NTV7 some time ago. Some of you might have caught it on TV, like me. It's called Yummy Trail which was hosted by Radiofm 988 DJ Jeff and NTV7 Star Idol contestant Hishiko.

Ever since watching the episode which featured Fong Lye in Yummy Trail, I had been craving to go there one day. Besides, Taiwanese is adventurous when comes to food (just like the Japanese). So, I decided to go to Fong Lye last Saturday.

Before the food came, I was telling my sis to remember to snap some photos of the food. However, when food was serve, we completely forgotten about it ~_~" LOL. Not yet a dedicated blogger, I reckoned. Anyway, I will try to remember that the next time. (fingers crossed ;p)

Since there are no photos taken, shall rely on my descriptions (and the video link provided above). I ordered a Fried Egg with Tomatoes and Fish meal set, a Pig Intestine Mee Suah, a Chicken with Scallion & Soy Sauce meal set, a Hot & Spicy Taiwanese Dim Sum and a Papaya Milk. Nah, I didn't finish them all by myself. Shared it out with my granny, mom and sis.

The Papaya Milk was a let down. Thinking I could taste authentic Papaya Milk from a Taiwanese Restaurant, I hastily ordered it only to find out that my mom's recipe on Papaya Milk tasted far better. It was too milky and I could not taste anything which resembled papaya.

To those who love spicy food and intestines, you could give the Hot & Spicy Taiwanese Dim Sum a try. I find it super spicy and hot! Probably I am not very good with spicy food. Anyway, I like the beancurd (I love beancurds!) and I didn't say that just because I like beancurds =p

I was enjoying the Fried Egg with Tomatoes and Fish meal set. The chef was generous with eggs, onions and fish fillets. Ah, and not to mention the sweet and sour tomato sauce. I was pratically "attacking" the sauce although I had finished the rice (which comes with the meal set). Oooh,..did I say that I love sweet and sour sauce? Well, now you know ;)

The Chicken with Scallion & Soy Sauce meal set looked pretty much like the poach chicken all mothers would cook during festive seasons. Yeah, you could say it resembles home-cooked food. So, nothing really special. I ordered because my granny wanted that. *shrug*

Well, overall, I would rate the food 5.5 out of 10. It wasn't as good as I had expected and the bill was a whooping MYR85. With that amount, I could indulge in Japanese cuisine! (Sushi Zanmai would be a good choice and it was located just opposite Fong Lye. Only realised that when I came out of the restaurant -.-)

The Art of Make Up

I was supposed to be preparing for a presentation and yet I was doing every other things except that! LOL. Actually, I had presented to my senior colleague last week but had some touch up to do and wanted to rehearse the flow of presentation since I tend to have problems getting words out smoothly from my mouth (especially in front of a crowd).

Anyway, I started wandering further from my initial intention. Here is where I landed myself. Looking at my outer appearance, people would usually pass me as someone who is "fashion-blind". I have been telling myself to change my wardrobe for the past few years and here I am, still wearing what I had been wearing for the past years! LOL. However, I do have a fashion sense - I know what looks good on a person or myself. Probably, I just can't be bothered to make a move to transform myself. Having said that, I must confess that I am a noob when comes to make up. I merely know the theoretical part of the art, thanks to beauty/fashion magazines and articles. However, I have never experimented on myself. I don't have a make-up kit. Yeah, that's right. I don't apply any make up although attending a dinner =p Oh yes, I may appear to be tomboyish. (I recalled having a male friend totally forgotten I AM a girl...)

Okies, back to the what I intended to share with you all on what I had discovered. The link mentioned above is a diary of a Japanese make-up artist. I was speechless to see how make-up work its way to create wonders! Selected a few to comment on.

This is cool. Better than tattoo, huh?

Awesome!

Don't I look pretty and cute in Kimono? Nah, just joking. I am not that pretty! =p

Ah,..beautiful hands

Picture source:
http://kaorikaori.blogspot.com/
http://kaoripress.blogspot.com/

MISIA - Japanese R&B Singer

I was searching for the drama "Fated to Love You" (命中注定我愛你), which was recommended by a colleague, at Youtube and I came across a video featuring Rainie Yang singing the Japanese song Everything. Being an inquisitive person, I decided to search for the Japanese version. The song was originally sang by Misia. Although I could not comprehend Japanese, I find the song touching and a consolation to the soul.

The photo above is a search result of Misia via Google Image. I like the tone and colour of the image. More captivating images can be found here.

Sharing with you is a video of the song Everything, which Misia sang in her 2005 concert. Enjoy =)

Picutre souce : http://kaorimusicartists.blogspot.com/2007/02/luire-misia.html

Dear U....

I was delighted to meet my former colleague at MSN whom I worked with during my Industrial Training in 2006. It was a busy and tiring Friday, as usual. So, it was great to have chatted with her.

She's still as sweet and friendly like the last time I saw her. We talked a little about ourselves and updated each other on what we were busy with. While talking to her (and even now), memories of my training days were flashing in my mind. I was touched that everyone in the company were so nice to my sis and I. There were only 6 of us (including my sis and myself) in the company and now, I believe it has expanded. Each and everyone of them had taught us valueable lessons and I shall always remember them. To me, it was more than an industrial training. The friendship we had fostered is something I would cherish a lifetime.

We always had lunch together in the conference room. I recalled one day, during lunch hour, we talked about Valentine's Day (it was Valentine's Day) and each of our first love. We then asked our manager what did he do to express his love to his wife. Did he do or say anything special on that day? He smiled sheepishly. Somehow, we made him call his wife and made him wish her "Happy Valentine's Day". He put his phone on Loudspeaker so we could hear every single word his wife said. There was so much warmth and laughter in the room. I enjoyed every lunch hour we had together.

I gathered that every year end, everyone would reminisce what took place in the past year and what would be the new year resolution. We took turn to share with one another. It was my first time having to share my personal thoughts with a group of people whom I had only known for a short period of time. Yet, I felt welcomed to pour out what was in my mind.

The time had come where my Industrial Training was nearing completion. I had a mixture of feelings. At one hand, was glad that I had completed my Industrial Training and on the other, I was saddened by the thought of parting with a group of nice people. On our last day, it was also the day that my colleagues needed to shift office. We had lunch together (haha on Manju's expense and oops, I forgotten the restaurant's name but the food was good. Thanks!) and then we headed off to shift things to the new office. Later in the day, we exchanged goodbyes and from there, we started off a new journey of our own. But, I have not forgotten any of you as each and everyone of you has made a difference in my life.

Manju, this blog is dedicated to you for being a wonderful mentor, colleague and friend (not to forget thank you for reminding me to commemorate the joyest memories we had in my blog).It was nice chatting with you. Hope to see you around more often. Good luck and all the best! =D Keep in touch.

10 Weird Things About Myself

Mmm....let's see the weird side of me!

1. I may start laughing in front of the PC at work place. [Some people do have "sense of humour" when writing emails. Can't help laughing what was being read. That shows I am a quick-witted person =p]


2. I didn't dare to eat crabs when I was younger because I was afraid of the claws and the fact that they have 8 legs!


3. I dislike seeing crumpled papers unless they are meant to be discarded.


4. I don't usually dip my food into sauce(s) because I could no longer taste the original flavour of the food.


5. I talk to myself at times.


6. I dislike having gravies of different dishes being mixed together.


7. I simply can't sleep well in hotels, no matter how luxurious the hotel is.


8. I have large appetite for beehon compared to other food which is rich in carbohydrate.


9. I can remember things that happened long time ago although they don't matter but forget things that do matter.
   
10. My words always could not find their way out from my mouth. Hence, I always fumble and stammer =p

Where Were You?

I could not feel your presence...
Where were you
When I was in hesitance
And needed you
To affirm my decisions

I heard laughter
From those who teased me
For being timid and cowardly...
Where were you
So that I can proof them wrong

I had lost count
The number of times
You had let me down
But I remain hopeful
That one day you would do me proud

But where were you?
Perhaps, I should stop being foolish
Thinking I could summon you
Just like how I could making a wish

I realise my grievous mistake
Is thinking that
You had never been there
When I needed you the most

I was wrong....
I was very wrong...

I learnt that
You had always been there
And only I didn't realise that!

You would remain silent
Until I find my way to you
It would be a long journey
Till the day I find you.....
My Courage

Yummy Sweet Treats

I was roaming the streets of KL Chinatown a.k.a Petaling Street when I found myself stopped in front of a quaint shop. I looked up to find the name "Happy Meal Kafe" staring down at myself. I started to study the shop and the pastries at display. It's a rather small shop at the corner of the street and I could see how the pastries were being made in the kitchen.

Hanging from the shop's ceiling was an advertisement leaflet promoting Durian Puffs at MYR2.80 (for a pack with 4 pieces). They have a striking resemblance of Beard's Papa's cream puffs, only that it's a miniature version of the former.

The Durian Roll is a must-try apart from Durian Puffs. It was complimentary to have cooling and fragrant durian creams filling my mouth while the sun was not showing any mercy towards me. It's simply refreshing. It cost MYR2.40 per piece.

If you haven't enough of durians, I challenge you to try the Durian Tart and Durian Cake. They were freshly baked when they were purchased *yum yum*. You could smell the strong aroma of durian filling the air before you place them in your mouth. The topping of the Durian Tart was crispy but when my teeth sunk deeper into the tart, I could taste the softness, sweetness and the fragrance of the durian paste.

You could have mistaken the Durian Cake as the Banana Cake by merely looking at its physical appearance. However, do not be deceived. Kindly refer to the name tag placed beside each pastry or enquire before purchasing. Again, your tastebud would be greeted with a luxurious scent of durian.

Durian Tart and Durian Cake cost MYR2.40 per piece respectively. To the Durian lovers, the three items above are truly recommended.

I had also tried its pineapple tart (one of my favourite pastries). It's about 7cm in length and 3cm in width. Sprinkled with some black sesames on the top, it has a thin crust with generous pineapple fillings. It was still warm and soft when I placed it in my mouth. It cost MYR1.20 per piece but I find it worthwhile although it's pricy compared to a piece of normal pineapple tart. Only that this it is not like any other pineapple tarts ;-)

Its cream cheese cake arrested my attention as well. It was made up of a 3.5cm layer of cream cheese and a mere 0.5cm (or lesser) layer of thin crust. The best part was it's only sold at MYR3.50 per piece considering it was quite generously sliced from a round cake.

Happy Meal Kafe offers an irresistable temptation to those who thought of dieting. It has a wide selection of pastries (or you can perceive them as desserts) and they were all freshly baked from the oven! In my next stop, I would love to try the cream cheese cake, the blueberry tart and the mixed bean tart.

Oh, if you are a fan of egg tarts, please give it a try at Happy Meal Kafe. It cost MYR1.00 per piece and needless to say, the look of it would have tempted you to take a bite ;-)

It was a pity that I didn't have a camera phone to snap some photos to make the whole experience I had shared with you more believable. I didn't bring my digital camera either because I didn't think I would need one, especially when running some errands. Anyway, you can have a look at the Durian Puffs here.

Address:
Happy Meal Kafe
143, Jalan Tun H.S. Lee,
50000 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel/Fax: 03-20726080
(Located opposite Popular Bookshop and Reggae Bar)